Abstract
Damaris Joy was one of the best-known “Popular Christian Music” (PCM) acts in German conservative religious milieus during the 1980s. In contrast to the Anglo-American “Contemporary Christian Music”, the German PCM has rarely been subject to academic research, despite being considered as a distinct musical genre, as well as an important aspect in the life of certain groups of believers. This article discusses exemplary close readings of Damaris Joy’s songs from both a theological and a musicological perspective. Through the presented exemplary analyses, we argue that the band’s lyrics deal especially with Christological topics so as to address mainstream culture, whilst the respective musical style punctuates and clearly strengthens the theological message of the respective songs.
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- 1.
Among the few relevant academic works are several essays in Kabus (ed.) (2003) as well as in Bossius et al. (eds.) (2011), Rux (2014), Luhr (2009), the latter focusing on PCM in the US, Moberg (2009) about Christian heavy metal and the short overview by Flender (1999) about the PCM scene in the Siegerland area. For additional publications, see McDowell (2013).
- 2.
From an insider perspective, the history of the band is described in detail on Hans-Martin Wahler’s website Damaris Joy Archiv: Wahler (n.d.). Further information has been gathered from a personal report by Hans-Martin Wahler at the University of Siegen (November 23, 2015) and from an interview with Karl-Friedrich Wahler (February 7, 2017).
- 3.
The German equivalent of “Bandage”, “Verband”, does not only denote a medical brace, but also a communal association.
- 4.
“an alle leute, die mit zeitgemäßer musik die frohe botschaft von jesus christus weitersagen wollen!!!!!”, copy of type-written letter by Hans-Martin Wahler, Siegen, May 19, 1976 (personal archive).
- 5.
A power chord consists only of a fundamental, fifth and an octave, which makes a clear association with major or minor tonality very difficult.
References
Oral History Sources
Wahler, Hans-Martin. 2015. Personal Report in a Course on Christian Popular Music, Organized by Veronika Albrecht-Birkner and Florian Heesch, University of Siegen, November 23, 2015.
Wahler, Karl-Friedrich. 2017. Interview by Ruthild Stöhr, February 7, 2017.
Bibliography
Böhm, Uwe, and Gerd Buschmann. 2006. Popmusik—Religion—Unterricht: Modelle und Materialien. Zur Didaktik von Popularkultur. Münster: Lit.
Bossius, Thomas, Andreas Häger, and Keith Kahn-Harris, eds. 2011. Religion and Popular Music in Europe: New Expressions of Sacred and Secular Identity. London: I.B.Tauris.
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Buschmann, Gerd, and Martin Guth. 1998. Zwei Kapitel Christologie in der Pop-Musik: das Jesus-Bild in ‘Brother’s Keeper’ von den ‘Neville Brothers’ und in ‘Hymn’ von ‘Barclay James Harvest’ als Bausteine für den Religionsunterricht. Katechetische Blätter: Zeitschrift für religiöses Lernen in Schule und Gemeinde 123: 61–68.
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Discography
Barry McGuire Eve of Destruction (1965, Dunhill)
Big & Rich Hillbilly Jedi (2012, Warner Bros. Records)
Damaris Joy Damaris Joy Live (1981, Lord Records)
Damaris Joy Revive Us (1983, Lord Records)
Damaris Joy With Compliments (1984, Lord Records)
Damaris Joy Jubilee Tour ’85 (1985, Lord Records)
Damaris Joy Open Door (1987, Lord Records)
Damaris Joy Limited Edition (2002, Schulte & Gerth)
Deep Purple Burn (1974, Purple Records)
Dolly Parton Just Because I’m A Woman (1968, RCA Victor)
Marduk Panzer Division Marduk (1999, Osmose Productions)
Paul Simon There Goes Rhymin’ Simon (1973, Columbia)
VA Tabaluga & Lilli (1999, BMG/Ariola)
Videography
Blues Brothers (1980, USA, John Landis, Universal Pictures)
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Appendix
Appendix
Songs by Damaris Joy mentioning Jesus (chronological order).
Song | Lang. | Words & music | Year | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Seine Liebe | German | Hans-Martin Wahler | 1980 | Damaris Joy Live |
Preacherman | English | Hans-Martin Wahler | 1980 | Damaris Joy Live |
Er wartet auf dich | German | Hans-Martin Wahler | 1980 | Damaris Joy Live |
Mein Leben lang | German | Hans-Martin Wahler | 1980 | Damaris Joy Live |
Lebensuhr | German | Heinz-Helmut Jost-Naujoks | 1980 | Damaris Joy Live |
Ganz anders | German | Heinz-Helmut Jost-Naujoks | 1983 | Revive Us |
On My Way | English | Heinz-Helmut Jost-Naujoks | 1983 | Revive Us |
Dein Blick | German | Hans-Martin Wahler | 1983 | Revive Us |
Was erwarte ich von Gott? | German | Hans-Martin Wahler | 1983 | Revive Us |
Ungelöste Fragen | German | Heinz-Helmut Jost-Naujoks | 1983 | Revive Us |
Graue Stadt | German | Hans-Martin Wahler | 1983 | Revive Us |
Get Away | English | Heinz-Helmut Jost-Naujoks | 1983 | Revive Us |
Denn er ist Liebe | German | Heinz-Helmut Jost-Naujoks | 1983 | Revive Us |
Miracles | English | Hans-Martin Wahler | 1984 | With Compliments |
A Willing Heart | English | Hans-Martin Wahler | 1984 | With Compliments |
True Believer | English | Heinz-Helmut Jost-Naujoks | 1984 | With Compliments |
Midnight | English | Hans-Martin Wahler | 1985 | Jubilee Tour ´85 |
Spuren | German | Hans-Martin Wahler | 1985 | Jubilee Tour ´85 |
Hoffnung | German | Hans-Martin Wahler | 1985 | Jubilee Tour ´85 |
Tell Them | English | Heinz-Helmut Jost-Naujoks | 1987 | Open Door |
Friends | English | Frieder Jost | 1987 | Open Door |
Just For You | English | Heinz-Helmut Jost-Naujoks | 1987 | Open Door |
Night of the Proms | English | Heinz-Helmut Jost-Naujoks | 2002 | Limited Edition |
Pick Up the Fallen Ones | English | Heinz-Helmut Jost-Naujoks | 2002 | Limited Edition |
Any Time | English | Hans-Martin Wahler | 2002 | Limited Edition |
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Kopanski, R., Albrecht-Birkner, V., Heesch, F., Stöhr, R. (2021). Interpreting Popular Christian Music from Theological and Musicological Perspectives: The Example of Damaris Joy. In: Gelfgren, S., Lindmark, D. (eds) Conservative Religion and Mainstream Culture . Palgrave Studies in Lived Religion and Societal Challenges. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59381-0_5
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